Put school principal behind bars, demands Aakriti’s mother

New Delhi, April 23 (IANS) Demanding the arrest of the principal of Modern School Vasant Vihar, the mother of Aakriti Bhatia of the school Thursday said her daughter’s soul would not rest in peace till she got justice. “(Principal) Goldy Malhotra should resign and be put behind bars. Aakriti will only be remembered if she gets justice,” said an angry Bani Bhatia, mother of the 17-year-old girl who died after an asthma attack during school hours Monday. Aakriti’s parents have alleged that the school failed to give timely medical help to her.

“When the child was not feeling well, the school should have sent her back home or taken her to the hospital. They should not have waited for us to take her to the hospital. She (Malhotra) acted in an inhuman manner,” Bani Bhatia said.

“I will go to police, court, to get justice. I am a woman. The chief minister is a woman, (Congress chief) Sonia Gandhi is a woman, the president of the country is a woman. I will go all the way. We are the country’s citizens. They cannot leave us like this.”

She said she was not interested in compensation but in justice for her daughter.

“What will I do with compensation. I want justice. Second period, she was shouting and holding her friend’s hand, saying ’save me’.”

“She told me, mama…I want to come home. I told her that I will pick you up. I was a little far away, so I sent the car with the driver first and I followed. You can see the parking records of the nursing home that there were two cars,” Bhatia said replying to questions on why none of the family members reached the school.

“It is the negligence of the school. There was no ambulance or doctor in the school. And why did they remove oxygen from her?” she asked.

Bhatia also alleged that Malhotra was putting pressure on children over the incident. “She is threatening them that if they speak to the media or anyone, they will not get their certificate.”

“The teachers are with us. They tell us injustice has been done. There are teachers whom we know personally since KG. But nobody came out. That is astonishing,” Bhatia said.

She said her daughter did not have any major health problem before her death.

“She had her inhaler. She knew how to take care of herself. On Sunday, she had gone to the parlour. She cleaned her almirah. My younger son is now searching for her in the house,” Bhatia said, sobbing.